Let's salute the U.S. Navy and thank them for the world's most ubiquitous wardrobe item.

The simple T-shirt.

And happy 100th birthday to it. In 1913, the Navy introduced T-shirts as standard-issue uniform wear. Appreciated for the freedom of movement they offered, the tee was cheap to make, easy to clean and quick to dry.

Without the Navy's innovation, Mike Collins of Wauwatosa would not have his beloved 20-year-old Rose Bowl T-shirt — a shirt held together, he claims, by "the faintest of covalent molecular bonds." It would be impossible to wordlessly brag that one "Opened Up the Highbury," which indicates that the wearer both follows soccer and is willing to tip a pint early in the day.

Without the Navy, no one would know you're with "Stupid."

The T-shirt isn't just clothing; it's a form of personal expression.

T-shirts through time

T-shirts channel history. The first political T-shirt is thought to be "Dew-it-with-Dewey" for the 1948 presidential election.

And what was once military wear became rebel chic in the 1950s thanks to James Dean and Marlon Brando. Stuff a pack of cigarettes in a rolled-up sleeve and, presto, instant hoodlum — a symbol that continues today.

There was a moment in the 1980s when the T-shirt was the height of fashion. "Miami Vice" nearly turned the T-shirt into formal wear. Slip a T-shirt under an expensive pastel suit jacket to look cool. Fancy sports car not included.

"To me, a T-shirt is kind of the punk of the fashion world," said Fred Gillich, speaking from his Too Much Metal Showroom where he sells T-shirts honoring all things Milwaukee — from south-side neighborhoods to the 414 area code.

T-shirts as travelogue

T-shirts make a statement. They can tell people where you or someone you know has vacationed. Remember the whole "all I got was this dumb T-shirt" phase? Or they can signify unity. As they did for Harley-Davidson.

The first time a Harley-Davidson T-shirt shows up in an apparel catalog is 1947. It had a bar-and-shield logo familiar to Harley riders and a price tag of $1.60, said Archives Manager Bill Jackson. In the early 1980s, T's proclaimed "The Eagle Soars Alone," a barely veiled reference to Harley employees successfully purchasing the company back from American Machine and Foundry.

"Whatever the event is, you've got to have a T-shirt," Jackson said. "And Harley riders love a back print. They want it to say city and state."

A brief history of the T-shirt

T-shirts are functional. The Navy knew that. The working classes caught on later.

The T-shirt was poised "to become the uniform of the 99%, not the 1%, when it was first invented," said H. Peter Steeves, a professor of philosophy at DePaul University. Steeves can put the T-shirt in historical and cultural context.

"Between the wars, more and more American civilians began wearing T-shirts for sports and in jobs that required strenuous manual labor in especially hot conditions," Steeves said. "The T-shirt has been tied to class and economics in terms of the user from the very start."

It's also related in terms of how it's manufactured.

Shirts were first constructed of cotton from the American South and made by cheap labor in U.S. factories. Nowadays they're made in "China, India, Bangladesh and Thailand," Steeves said. "The T-shirt is made by unseen labor, 'disposable' people, and entire classes of workers that have no stake in the final product, no hope of owning the means of production and no control over their own bodies and lives."

Not that all T-shirts are produced overseas. American Apparel, Carhartt and others manufacture T-shirts in the U.S. with home-grown cotton.

In the history of the T-shirt, Steeves said, somewhere along the way "we all began happily wearing the logos and advertising slogans of our favorite products." We seek community and find "we have little in common, however, other than the mass-produced moments of popular culture," Steeves said.

T-shirts for a cause

Some T-shirts work hard. The Milwaukee-based Ink to the People launched last year but shifted into high gear when they printed shirts that said "Boston Strong."

Two students requested the shirts as a way to raise money for those injured in the Boston Marathon bombings. They sold 57,590 shirts, said Todd Richheimer of Ink to the People.

Ink to the People is a do-it-yourself bulk T-shirt site. Customers come up with a design, upload it and set a duration of time to sell it.

Think Summerfest T-shirts.

T-shirts are a basic form of communication, said Dan Elias, vice president of TSMGI marketing and the man who helped bring the headliner souvenir shirt, with its listing of headlining bands, to Summerfest.

But using a shirt to carry a message was a foreign idea until the 1950s.

"People never thought about putting something on the shirt, but you had this space," Elias said.

In 1950, Tropix Togs purchased the exclusive rights to print Mickey Mouse on shirts, according to CustomInk.com, an online T-shirt design company. The concept of branding, expressing and advertising through the T-shirt became more convenient following the invention of a durable ink called Plastisol.

T-shirts as a connection to sports

At the Matt Kenseth Store in Cambridge, there is a selection of 25 T-shirts featuring the 2003 NASCAR champion. A new shirt is introduced every time Kenseth wins a race.

"Everybody likes a T-shirt. T-shirts sell really well because everyone wants that affiliation," said Susan Carpenter, Kenseth's sister and manager of the Matt Kenseth Store.

Loyalty comes printed on a tee. The Brewers may not be winning all their games, but the T-shirts are still selling. Among the top sellers is the Norichika Aoki tee, which features his name written in Japanese.

"Aoki is doing well, which has an influence," said Jill Aronoff, senior director of merchandise branding for the Brewers.

Nike products sell well as much for the swoosh as the fabric, Aronoff said. Women like the V-neck Brewers T-shirts.

Men, not so much.

"Everywhere else except Milwaukee, men's V-necks are huge — but not in Milwaukee," Aronoff said. "All the other teams do very well except for us."

The shirts often become irreplaceable to the fan.

For instance, Colin Deval of Milwaukee still has "Wayne Gretzky caricature T-shirt from when he was traded to the L.A. Kings." That was in 1988.

T-shirts that made Milwaukee famous

T-shirts hold our personal history.

"For me the most iconic T-shirts of Milwaukee revolve around our summer festivals," said Sandi Keiser, associate professor in the fashion department at Mount Mary College.

"Who doesn't own a selection of T-shirts commemorating anything from Jazz in the Park to the Harley-Davidson anniversary celebrations or one of our many annual festivals such as Summerfest, Bastille Days, Irish Fest or the Lakefront Festival of Art."

Expect to see T-shirts celebrating the 110th anniversary of Harley-Davidson, which is celebrated next month. It's also the 100th anniversary of Miller High Life. MillerCoors has its own long history with the T-shirt.

High Life, Hamm's and Miller Lite remain the legacy brands — the shirts that sell. Tours at MillerCoors started in the 1950s and the Visitors Center opened in the 1970s and somewhere in there, the vast range of Miller Beer T-shirts was begun, said guest relations manager Kindra Loferski.

Back to Mike Collins, whose relationship with T-shirts goes way back. But also because they mean something to him. What he wouldn't give for his first concert T-shirt. Collins was 12 or 13. The souvenir T-shirt was designed by his father, who used a red marker to write Ted Nugent on a white T-shirt.

About Kathy Flanigan

Tap Milwaukee reporter Kathy Flanigan covers entertainment news, events and our beer culture. She is the author of Weekend Guide, a newsletter with best bets for weekend activities.